


name them gods, name them men, but do not name them whole

by anotherbuskitten



Series: live, die, rinse, repeat [5]
Category: Thor (Comics), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-01 22:00:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20265181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anotherbuskitten/pseuds/anotherbuskitten
Summary: “Everyone has talent. What's rare is the courage to follow it to the dark places where it leads.”― Erica Jong





	name them gods, name them men, but do not name them whole

I (War, Law, Justice)

He’s a warrior, a soldier, a brawler, fighter, ne’er-do-well and yet Tyr’s face falls when he’s named War. Imperceptible, and covered easily by that roar Odin’s children do so well.

There is no celebration when he becomes Law. He’s been presiding over trials for so long now that no one really notices when it becomes a Title and not only a job.

It’s a shame really, because he would have liked to know that he was just as well as deadly.

II (Storms, Healing, Fertility)

It was never a secret that Thor’s magic lay in the heavens, in the sky above him and the power he could pull down from it. It was, likewise, never hidden that he had a gift with children that couldn’t be blamed entirely on his being an older brother – not when Tyr barely spoke to his siblings, not when Loki had injured Thor more than any battle he’d been in – but the first time he pressed his hands over an open wound – over a dying man – and refused to give him his rites –

Oh, that one was a surprise.

III (Lies, Fire)

It’s one of the things everyone knows about the third Odinson, that you must never, under any circumstance, believe a word that comes out of his mouth. It’s tempting we know to believe that you’re special, that you’re the only one in the nine realms that he isn’t spinning a story to – but trust me, you aren’t and he is.

There are rumours, guesses, about what else he might be Lord of. There are some gods, of course, who have only one duty (and usually something a touch dull, like fishing, or sewing, or dying alone and old), but those men are not princes so everyone knows that Loki will get some other title before the world is over.

By the time he does though, he isn’t a prince of Asgard anymore, not really, and Jotunheim is not a place for fire-starters.

IV (Light, Joy, Summer Sun, Purity)

In much the same way that Thor had rainstorms and thunder always biting at his heels Balder brings the light of many suns with him where he walks. The sunshine does not follow him like a puppy as much as it is infused throughout his being, brightening up any place or crowd he finds himself amongst.

In truth, it takes longer than it should before it is picked up upon that this is Special, that this is Titled, because Balder is a happy child and perhaps this time the Allfather has managed to raise a good prince? But no, Balder is not a happy, well-adjusted child – he is a boy with a duty to the sun and the summer. He makes people happy, yes, but behind the closed doors of the palace he seems made to fight with his brothers.

There is Tyr who is still, aside from anything else _so angry all the time_, who disapproves of purity in this way for it detracts from the Law as a solid and makes everything into a question of morality. Not that people are doubting _Balder’s_ morality…

Then there’s Thor who – well do we really need to speak on the difference between sunny skies and stormy ones. It isn’t that Thor doesn’t enjoy the sun or that Balder doesn’t find comfort in his brother’s storms it’s only…people do not like to look at nuances when there is an easy answer available.

And Loki? Well Loki was already bitter before he became an older brother to a perfect son. Balder didn’t need a title to alienate Loki.


End file.
